AI Generated Summary
- The tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, ended the tradition of a human Guru and entrusted the Sikh Panth to the Shabad Guru by granting the status of Guru to the Granth Sahib, declaring that from that day onward, a Sikh would accept Guru Granth Sahib as the living Guru.
- The remaining damage has been inflicted by politicians who have positioned themselves as custodians of religion, yet appear largely unaffected by the repeated incidents of sacrilege and the disappearance of a large number of the sacred saroops of Guru Granth Sahib.
- Following this, the entire Sikh community is viewing this step not only as a gesture of respect toward religious sentiments but also as a historic initiative to restore public faith in Punjab’s justice system.
Perhaps never before in history has such a situation arisen involving the Guru Granth Sahib, whom the entire Sikh community reveres as the living Guru. The tenth Sikh Guru, Guru Gobind Singh Ji, ended the tradition of a human Guru and entrusted the Sikh Panth to the Shabad Guru by granting the status of Guru to the Granth Sahib, declaring that from that day onward, a Sikh would accept Guru Granth Sahib as the living Guru.
Unlike the scriptures of other religions, which were written by followers after their religious founders left this world, Guru Granth Sahib is the only scripture that was compiled by the Gurus themselves during their lifetime. Every Sikh is expected to read the Bani recorded in Guru Granth Sahib and adopt it in daily life. Unfortunately, the Sikh community has limited itself largely to ritual worship alone.
Those granthis, ragis, and sewadars who are entrusted with the responsibility of spreading awareness about Guru Granth Sahib do recite the Bani, but perhaps fail to implement its teachings in their own lives; otherwise, the Sikh community would not be facing such a tragic decline today. The Sikh youth would not be drifting away from Sikhi due to greed, temptation, or fashion. The remaining damage has been inflicted by politicians who have positioned themselves as custodians of religion, yet appear largely unaffected by the repeated incidents of sacrilege and the disappearance of a large number of the sacred saroops of Guru Granth Sahib.
In 2016, the mysterious disappearance of 328 sacred saroops of Guru Granth Sahib came to light for the first time. At that time, a so-called Panthic government was in power in Punjab, and the Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC) was also under its control. Despite this, the matter was hushed up by taking token action against one or two employees, merely as a formality. No employee could possibly have the authority or audacity to move such a large number of sacred saroops on their own. It is evident that several influential individuals may have been involved, and the issue was deliberately suppressed to protect them.
One must ask—had a member of their own family gone missing, would they have responded in the same manner? Or do they view Guru Granth Sahib merely as a book, whose disappearance does not deeply affect them? On the contrary, those devotees who expressed grief over the disappearance of their Guru’s sacred saroops and staged protests demanding action against the culprits were met with police bullets. The police personnel who fired upon the protesters were later rewarded with promotions by the same Panthic government—nothing could be more shameful than this.
At that time, Punjab was under the leadership of the late Parkash Singh Badal, followed by Captain Amarinder Singh and Charanjit Singh Channi. During the tenure of all three governments, the matter remained confined to official files. Now, for the first time, the Bhagwant Mann government has initiated legal action by registering FIRs against 16 SGPC employees. Following this, the entire Sikh community is viewing this step not only as a gesture of respect toward religious sentiments but also as a historic initiative to restore public faith in Punjab’s justice system.
On the other hand, the SGPC president has termed this move as government interference in Sikh religious affairs. One must ask—if effective action had been taken over the past nine years, would the government have needed to intervene at all? Political leaders who previously raised this issue vociferously to corner the Badal Dal are now conspicuously silent, as many of them have since become supporters of the same Badal Dal. This clearly reveals that politicians use the Guru solely for fulfilling their own interests.
If the real culprits are finally exposed, this development could bring significant political advantage to the Mann government in the future. At the same time, it may further deepen the crisis for the Shiromani Akali Dal and could very well become a decisive factor in its political decline.
